Soli Deo Gloria

“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,” Romans 8:5-6

In the greek, the verb for “set their minds” in this verse means “to think, to give careful consideration to, careful thought, to think about someone”.

What are you obsessed with? That which permeates the mind and the thought life is our obsession. With all this talk in the world of sex, Obama, healthcare, the news, football games, television shows, movies, facebook, twitter, the internet, cars, food, etc. let me give you a stark and sobering thought to ponder today. If you spend more time thinking about these things than God it is a dangerous warning sign that may signal your not being a true Christian. You may fool yourself in thinking you are but remember that it is impossible to serve both God and mammon. There is no middle ground. What (or who) are you truly in love with? Either we are completely sold out to God or not – and as Scripture clearly teaches that one way to know is evidenced by our thought life. (Rom. 8:5-6)

Inventory your thought life just since you got up this morning. Have you thought more about something other than God? What is your thought life consumed with? Is it consumed with your job, your spouse, your children or maybe even your ministry? You see, even if your mind if consumed with good or harmless things if the absolute focus and majority of your thought life is not God in Christ then you need to examine yourself! Having high thoughts of God surely does not save us but a change in our thinking is a direct result of salvation.

Do you make time in your mind for Christ only on the Lord’s Day and then the other six days consume your thoughts on things of the earth and not things in heaven? (Col. 3:2) Do you live your life as a practical atheist claiming to know God but living your life as if He did not exist? What do you think of most? It is a humbling and sobering thing to survey our thought life – which amounts to that which we love – and see where the Creator of all things stacks up?

I believe that this is exactly what the church in Ephesus dealt with in Revelation. You see, this church talked the talk and in a sense walked a walk in their deep, orthodox theology but they had lost their first love. They had lost their love and zeal for Christ. (Rev. 2:4) They thought much on heresies, debates and even their ministries but there was no room left in their thought life and in their minds for Christ. They had quite frankly let Christ get out of their minds. Christ warned them to repent and if they did not repent it would be evidence that they had permanently taken Christ out of their minds because He truly was never there to begin with! (Rev. 2:5)

I write these things not to try and scare the reader but to bring attention to what the full counsel of God’s word tells us. True salvation results not only in the penalty for our sins being paid for but also the regeneration of the dead soul to one that is spiritual alive and one that will yearn for Christ. The regenerated person is one who hates what he once loved and now loves what he once hated. It is a sad reminder of the state of the church today when the majority of professing believers talk and think more about worldly things than they do Christ. Not long ago Christian fellowship was getting together to talk about Christ and the things of Christ, but sadly today Christian fellowship amounts to getting together to watch a football game or go whitewater rafting. Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with coming together for fun but true, biblical fellowship is coming together to rejoice in and talk about the greatest thing on our mind – Christ! Who (or what) are you in love with? Our minds and thought life are the barometer for knowing for sure! Let us remember that Christ should be in our minds constantly and every thought made captive to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5) Recall too that Scripture tells us to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” (Romans 12:2) It is a call to remember that as a believer our minds have been renewed through regeneration and we are to tend to it by guarding our thought life and implanting the word of God in the mind. This is truly a “magnificent obsession”!

Phil. 4:8  ”Finally, brethren,  whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is  lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,  dwell on these things.”

Soli Deo Gloria!

Bible Studies, Daily Walk, Scripture, The Gospel

I’ve been meditating much lately on the life of Christ – specifically how settled and perfect the gospel narratives of Christ’s life are. From the moment our Savior was born incarnate every moment of His life was sure. Nothing was in question – there was never a moment in reading any of the narratives that there might be an inkling of a moment of even the hint of failure. As I think about the life of Christ time and time again the leaders wanted to trap Him in a saying and to kill Him and time and time again with absolute surety the gospels tell us that He slipped out of their reach “because His time had not yet come”. There was no touching the King of kings.

It was not until Christ willingly gave up His life into the hands of wicked men that we see His time coming and even then they are able to do nothing more to Him than was was predetermined by God before time began. There was also absolutely nothing coming in the way of His atoning, sacrificial death. What God promised before the foundation of the world and what He promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses and all the great prophets came to absolute perfection without even a hint of something possibly causing the plan to fail.

Now we come to the promise of Christ’s second advent. We come to scenes of comfort even in martyrdom knowing that the souls of those in Christ who die are safe and secure in Him. And yes, a promise just as secure as the very promise of His atoning death and resurrection. We also see later on in Revelation how the world led by Satan tried with all its might to destroy the very Prince of Peace – the very King of kings and in one small verse we read that Christ slaughters the very world that is trying so desperately to kill the Lamb and His bride. (Rev. 17:14)

There is no shifting sand in Christ. He truly is the Rock that does not move, nor sleep nor shake. The world is constantly in flux – turning here and there in desperate attempts to satisfy the flesh and the lusts of the mind and heart. The soul happy in Christ is satisfied with His very presence. He is everything. Just like the feeding of the multitudes who were satisfied the very Bread from heaven is our true sustenance and food that fully satisfies and causes us to see the world as it is – a passing vanity fair able to give nothing but pain, disappointment and death.

I am amazed at the absolute perfection and surety of God in Christ. May we cling to these promises setting our minds on things above and not on things of the earth. May we rejoice in knowing that our God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and that He is faithful and true and everything He says will take place in His perfect timing. This allows us to truly understand the importance of being anxious for nothing does it not? (Philippians 4:6) What a joy to have our eyes opened to these glorious truths and to give all glory to God for shining in our hearts the knowledge of His glory in the face of His precious Son by the power of the Holy Spirit of truth and grace. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Soli Deo Gloria

Bible Studies, Daily Walk, The Gospel

Paul Washer has written a study book entitled “The One True God” which I have found to be an excellent study and one that causes the student to dig deep into Scripture. It’s one of those great interactive books that teaches but teaches only from God’s Word. In order to read this book you must have the Bible front and center. (What a concept!)

Brother Washer has released another great book following the same format entitled “Truth About Man” and it’s available as a free download from his web site here. Don’t miss out on this great study!

Bible Studies

In my study of Scripture I am always in awe of the description of the throne room of God. The very place He is said to sit on His throne in all His glory and majesty. The Old Testament book of Ezekiel and the New Testament book of Revelation both describe God on His throne in such amazing ways all the while never giving us enough detail to be able to break the second commandment and make a graven image.

Scripture gives us these stunning images of our Lord on His throne reigning and ruling in His sovereign and majestic power. We definitely get the sense that the vision is beyond human description – unfathomable. These glorious images Scripture gives us should cause us to pause and remember who our God is – the God of all creation – the one and only true God. He is above all and Creator of all. He is sovereign, He is Lord, He is King!

The imagery that the Holy Spirit gives us in the Word of God is stunning…

Ezekiel 1:26 Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. 27 Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something  like  glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. 28 As the appearance of the  rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the  glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

Revelation 4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. 5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a  sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

One thing that has always struck me is the constant worship God receives. At this very moment as I type this article and as you are reading it there is constant worship at the throne of God directed towards the triune God – the Father, Son (the Lamb who was worthy to be slain) and the Holy Spirit. There at the throne of God the four living creatures or seraphim incessantly sing out the trihagion, the three-fold song of holiness to our Great God…

Isaiah 6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “ Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the  foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

Scripture goes on to teach us that all the angels join in worship to the Lion and the Lamb as well as the 24 elders on their thrones. The throne room of God is an ear piercing non-stop jubilation of praise and honor to the One who deserves nothing but praise, honor and glory. He alone is worthy of praise, for as Revelation clearly tells us Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was worthy to be slain, is surrounded by constant singing:

Rev. 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and  purchased for God with Your blood men from  every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

So in heaven at the very throne of God there is constant sound – the constant sound of praise, adoration that has the three fold trihagion setting the tempo as sung by an angelic order that Ezekiel nor John could describe with fullness using human words for the very vision was overwhelming and beyond description – just as our Great God is.

But there is a moment in time when something will happen that has never happened and never will happen after it. There will be a moment in time when heaven will have the sound of silence. There will be a moment in time when the four living creatures will close their mouths in awe. There will be a time when the 24 elders will be silent. There will be a time when all of the angels – all of them, the innumerable army of angels will not utter a sound. The book of Revelation paints this amazing picture for us in the beginning of chapter 8:

Rev. 8:1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

You see God has been patient, desiring that no one perish but that all come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) Even in His judgments that are summed up in the breaking of the first through the 6th seals we see mercy as opportunity to repent and turn to Him. But as the Lamb of God breaks that final seal it is done. Time is up. The sun, moon and stars fall from the sky no longer to meter the days and define time. All of heaven and all created order stops what they are doing and watches in awe as God symbolically stands up from His throne to render final judgment. The cries of the martyred souls no longer cry out (Rev. 6:9-10) – for they also see that the time has come. The time only the Father knows has come as the number of their fellow servants who would join their martyrdom was complete. (Rev. 6:10)

All of heaven is silent in absolute awe in anticipation of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches us that all of the angels of heaven will appear with Christ in the sky. Picture this: all of the angels, all myriads and myriads of them are silently arraying themselves while focused in silent awe of the Lamb who was worthy to be slain in preparation for the sky to split apart to display the Lord of lords in the glory of the Father. Those in Christ will be caught up in the air to meet Him while His wrath, the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:16), will be poured out on all who are not found in Him.

As Revelation teaches us, there is a moment of about one-half and hour where heaven is absolutely silent. The Creator of All, the Almighty Judge has stood to righteously deliver judgment upon the earth. Scripture teaches us that angels look intently at the church of Jesus Christ and peer deeply at the unsearchable riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now they see the culmination of all that the Lion and the Lamb has ushered in and bought through His obedience to the Father. Jesus Christ has saved His elect, has purchased a kingdom of priests for Himself who will reign upon the earth. Satan and his demons and all his children – all of the ungodly who have turned from God and denied Him are thrown into the lake of fire along with death itself. Let us never, ever forget that Christ experienced that very hell on the cross as He stood condemned in the place of sinners – His elect. Oh our gracious and merciful Lord! Our great God then ushers in a new heaven and a new earth – a restoration of Eden – when all “was good”. The bride of Christ will spend eternity with Him and will “see His face” (Rev. 22:4) in the new earth. This my friends is a true description of “heaven”.

While Revelation can be a challenging book to interpret, the overall theme and message is plain. God has won. It is that simple. God is on His throne and He will be glorified.  He is equally glorified by the saints as well as those who will spend eternity in hell. The idea of their being silence is heaven is actually one of the loudest scenes Scripture portrays for us.

May we never forget who our God is. May we learn from the throne room of heaven in our own worship here on earth and remember that the Lion and the Lamb is our focus of worship just as it is in the heavenly throne. Do not miss that Christ is described as the Lamb who is slain – heaven never leaves the cross and nor should the Church! Let this silence described in Scripture bring you comfort as a Christian knowing that judgment has been passed on your Substitute and you are safe and secure in Him. However, let this silence bring about terror and conviction to anyone who is outside of the love of Christ. Today is the day of salvation for when the silence is heard it is too late.

The cross of Jesus Christ exemplifies in absolute beauty beyond description both the perfect love and perfect justice of God. Yes, God is love but He is also a God of perfect justice. We see both of those attributes displayed simultaneously at Calvary. The wrath of God abides on all those who are outside of Christ as their Lord and Savior – for the Lamb of God took our place and satisfied the requirements of the Law and the wrath we deserve. He receives all of the glory and rightly so for He is God!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Bible Studies, Scripture, The Church, The Gospel

I was reading a book a while back called “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross” and one of the contributors really made a connection to our Lord that I had never seen. If you remember, Jesus told a parable concerning a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus in Luke chapter 16. The rich man in torment, still unrepentant and concerned for himself begs Lazarus to give him just a single drop of cool water. The rich man being in hell is in torment and longs for just a single drop of cool water – something unavailable to him. In essence, “he thirsts”.

Now flash forward to our Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Not once do we ever hear our Lord complain of physical pain. It is only in the statement, “I thirst” in John 19 that we get a glimpse of what appears to be a physical need – simple thirst. But is there more to our Lord’s request for water?

My Jesus experienced the hell I will never endure as He became my sin on my behalf so that I may obtain forgiveness and His perfect righteousness.  (2 Corinthians 5:21) He experienced a level of hell I will never see and like the rich man in the parable, He thirsted and longed for the water. While Lazarus could not cross over because of the impassable gulf, our Lord Jesus Christ did what we could not do and incredibly changed places becoming the rich man for us. Oh how this should cause us to pause and reflect humbly on our Lord’s sacrifice for His elect. I deserve absolutely nothing but wrath and hell for my rebellion, sin and outright hatred for God and His children and yet while we were yet sinners our Lord humbled Himself to become a man and endured a hell that is beyond description or imagination. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  My God suffered, thirsted and died in my place. And even more, our forgiveness and perfect righteousness in Christ is coupled with a new life, a new heart that longs to live and be like Him through the power of the Spirit of Christ by His grace. This my friends is amazing grace. As Michael Horton so eloquently wrote, “let us put amazing back into grace!”

Soli Deo Gloria!

Bible Studies, The Gospel

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

Titus 2:11-14

Bible Studies, Scripture

This is Bob Jennings in such a wonderful presentation on purity of devotion to Christ in 2 Cor. 11:2.  This is such a powerful message and delivered with such godly love.

Bible Studies, Evangelism, Scripture

Understanding “Once Saved Always Saved”

This term has been misused by folks in thinking that once you pray a prayer or walk an isle you are “in the club” and you quite simply cannot lose your salvation.  The key to understanding this statement is to understand where the term came from.  The early reformers had a series of statements about the doctrines of grace and one of those statements was called “perseverance of the saints”.  This statement affirmed the Biblical truths that someone who is truly saved cannot lose their salvation.  The reason?  The reformers rightly understood that before we are saved we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1) and a dead person can no more respond to the gospel than a corpse can talk.  It takes a supernatural work of God to cause a sinner to be born again, or “born from above” in order for that dead person to be able to respond to the gospel call. The Westminster Confession of Faith rightly states, “They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”   Jesus clearly taught that one must be born again before they can enter the kingdom of heaven.  God causes spiritual rebirth as a gracious, sovereign choice. So the reformers understanding was very Biblical in that they taught that a true believer is kept by God and that believer will persevere because the Holy Spirit will cause that person to continue in the faith even amongst the strongest persecution and temptation.

Read more…

Bible Studies, The Gospel, Theology

Bible Studies, Evangelism, Preaching, The Gospel

As a Bible teacher, I am absolutely convinced from Scripture that the only way to teach God’s Word is to do so through a verse by verse exposition. The majority of curriculums available for the average church class is nothing more than a glorified devotional taking two or three verses (usually out of context) to drive some life application down the throats of the class members. These curriculums are normally devoid of doctrine. Is it no surprise that our churches are filled with people who know so little about Scripture? That is no way to teach God’s Word. We must allow God’s Word to speak for itself by providing a faithful verse by verse exposition of the text with grammatical, historical and authorial intent in mind. I get so discouraged when I hear Bible teachers and preachers focus more on application than a solid exhortation that follows Biblical exposition and sound doctrine.

I was so excited to hear Dr. John MacArthur speak on this very issue. MacArthur regularly comes under question by the typical “life application and relevant obsessed” pastors of the day as to why he does not focus on application more. John’s answer is spot on. I pray God will raise up more men like Dr. MacArthur who boldly proclaim God’s truth one verse at a time without compromise. Take a listen to this six minute segment where John explains his reasonings for a focus on doctrine and exhortation while leaving application to the Holy Spirit…

Bible Studies, Preaching, The Church

When we think about some of the most amazing creative acts of God I believe that most people would point to Genesis and the account of the creation of the world through the word of God Almighty. If we really step back and think about the creation account it should bring us to our knees in praise to our God – that He would simply speak things into existence – things from nothing.

When Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, he had to be thinking about that glorious truth of God creating everything from nothing, or ex nihilo as the theologians put it, when he penned chapter 4. There is a profound verse that speaks so many truths in this chapter…

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”  2 Corinthians 4:6

This verse is comparing the miraculous creation of the world by the unlimited power of God to the regeneration of the dead soul at war with God to a new creation that longs to know Him. I believe it was Paul Washer who once gave a powerful sermon stating that the regeneration of the soul is a greater act of God than His creation of the world. The apostle Paul I believe is saying just that in this verse.

This powerful verse of Holy Writ illustrates so many truths:

1. Only God can cause the regeneration of a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Notice that God is the One who gives the light of the knowledge of His glory in Christ. This is not something that any man can obtain on their own – Scripture is clear on that. We want so much to be able to cling to something within ourselves to come to God. The only thing you have to bring to God is your sin. All of our salvation, all of it, is from God.  He graciously causes us to be born again granting us repentance and faith to come running to Him, all to His glory.

2. The absolute miracle and power of God to speak light into existence is the same miracle and power of God to create a new heart – to create a heart of flesh from a heart of stone. God speaks in Isaiah 66:2 that His hand created all things, by His hand all things came into being. But as He looks out over the landscape of a billion galaxies what catches His attention, what causes Him to look is one with a contrite and broken heart and one who trembles at His Word.

“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  Isaiah 66:2

God looks for His greatest creation – the regenerated man. This regeneration is all for His glory. We have nothing, absolutely nothing to boast in except the cross of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. I am so humbled that God would save a sinner such as I.  I am a man who deserves nothing but eternal damnation because of my rebellion and willful sin against my Creator. But He saved me. My God and Savior Jesus Christ saved me. And my God who spoke light into existence transformed my stony heart to one of flesh and opened my eyes to His glory in the face of Christ Jesus my Lord. All to Him I owe.

3. What is the purpose of salvation? Why did God choose to save His elect? The Westminster Catechism sums it up better than any other – for God’s Glory. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God is glorified through what He does to save sinners. Since all men are born haters of God and enemies of God, our natural desires are things other than God – namely self. Regeneration causes us to love the things we once hated and hate the things we once loved. We become new creatures in Christ and the scales come off our eyes to see God in Christ and to seek with all of our might to know Him more and more. God is glorified in our knowing Him. In fact, Jesus in what I call “The Real Lord’s Prayer” in John chapter 17 explains in absolute beauty what eternal life truly is…

“This is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  John 17:3

In regeneration, God gives the light of His glory in the face of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus being God reveals the fullness of God to us. To know Christ is to know God. The glorious truth is that it is only by God’s gracious and unmerited regenerative miracle that may we know Him in Christ.  

This is just touching on this amazing verse.  Like all of Scripture we can never exhaust the riches of what it contains and Who it exalts and glorifies. I am just amazed that God would save any one. The cross of Jesus Christ exemplifies the perfect love as well as the perfect justice of God. There on that cross was God in the flesh loving us beyond all measure taking the place of His elect, bearing the full wrath and punishment from God that we so deserve as rebels, idolaters and enemies of God saving us from the wrath to come. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Father in Heaven, may we all be humbled by Your gracious love, mercy, grace and justice in the cross of Your Son – The Prophet, The Priest, The King. May we boast only in His cross as we take up our own and follow Him. May we be constantly and ever increasingly amazed at the miracle of regeneration, the new birth, being born from above by Your power for Your glory. May You be glorified in all that we do as we seek to obey Your word by Your grace. 

I love you Lord Jesus. Maranatha.

Soli Deo Gloria

Related Post: The Sacrifices of God

Bible Studies, Scripture, The Gospel

Bible Studies, Scripture, The Church